Culture Bites are ad-libbed bonus episodes of TGE, in which I share bits of research, random musings and mad ravings - raw, uncut and unedited.
In this one, I talk about the patterns hidden within and that govern history. “[...]We are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively”. This quote is from the late Great comedian Bill Hicks. But it might as well have been the German philosopher Hegel.
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Where does the world come from? The Bible, Greek myths, to cosmological accounts of the Big Bang, we've been grappling with the question of our origin since the dawn of civilisation. But when did our approach to this question transition from the religious to the scientific? In this episode of The Great Everything, I explore the ideas of Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes, the first to come up with rational theories about the creation and constitution of our world. As such, today these 'pre-Socratics' are heralded as the first philosophers, and the original scientists.
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Culture Bites are ad-libbed bonus episodes of TGE, in which I share bits of research, random musings and mad ravings - raw, uncut and unedited.
In this one, I discuss Hitchcock's quote: "There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it". What does this truth tell us about our psyche and how we approach our own suffering?
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Culture Bites are ad-libbed bonus episodes of TGE, in which I share bits of research, random musings and mad ravings - raw, uncut and unedited.
In this one, I discuss the ban from major media platforms of fake news purveyor extraordinaire, Infowars' Alex Jones. Do social media companies have a duty to preserve free speech? Is this a free speech issue? What are the perils of censorship?
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Culture Bites are ad-libbed bonus episodes of TGE, in which I share bits of research, random musings and mad ravings - raw, uncut and unedited.
In this one, I ramble about Ricky Gervais, the philosophical problem of change and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Yes, it's one of those ones.
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TheGreatEverything.com

Culture Bites are ad-libbed bonus episodes of TGE, in which I share bits of research, random musings and mad ravings - raw, uncut and unedited.
In this one, I ramble about what works and what doesn't in Sacha Baron Cohen's new show - Who Is America?
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TGE is back with season 4! Introducing "Culture Bites", ad-libbed, unresearched bonus episodes, in which I share bits of research, random musings and mad ravings - raw, uncut and unedited.
In this one, I discuss the genius of chef Joël Robuchon and explore the notion of food as culture.
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In this 'Transformation' episode, a listener's question on moral relativism ("when is racism a moral failure?") prompts a philosophical musing on ethics - how do we assess the moral worth of people from different times and cultures? What moral standard should they be measured against? Does morality necessarily involve choice? What's really going on when we express a moral judgment?
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To many, John Coltrane is more than just one of the Greatest musicians who ever lived - he's a religious figure. Worshipped as a Saint, what stands out most about him is the spiritual intensity of his music.
In celebration of last week's release of the newly-discovered album "Both Directions At Once", we take a close look at the man, the music and the myth of John Coltrane.
Music:
* "India - Live at the Village Vanguard 1961", John Coltrane
* "Freedom Now Suite", Max Roach
* "Alabama", John Coltrane
* "My Favourite Things - Live in Stockholm 1963", John Coltrane
* "I Could Write A Book", Miles Davis Quintet
* "Spiritual - Live at the Village Vanguard 1961", John Coltrane
* "A Love Supreme, Part 1 - Acknowledgement", John Coltrane
Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/shalom82/playlist/1PenyB56gGnYTAjQceOhoW?si=0Nzjkgv6SUS9yS3MMDXahQ
http://www.thegreateverything.com/introduction-to-jazz-john-coltrane-a-love-supreme/
TheGreatEverything.com

In this episode of The Great Everything, I take a look at the evolution of one of pop culture's greatest and most terrifying icons - Count Dracula. From his monstrous, hairy-palmed origins to his current status as dark, romantic heartthrob, Dracula's main power has always been the ability to adapt with the times, and embody the desires and fears of current society. What do the various versions of Dracula through the ages tell us about ourselves?
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Yesterday, a newly published travel diary by Albert Einstein shocked the world, revealing his "racist and xenophobic" thoughts on the Chinese, Levantine and uhhhh... well, mainly just the Chinese. Was Einstein a racist? Is that even the right question? In this episode, I ramble about what's going through our minds when we use, and hear, generalisations.
BBC Article: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-44472277
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On the 100th episode of TGE, I brought in Marc, with whom I founded TheGreatEverything.com long ago during the Peloponnesian War. We talked about career change, pursuing your dreams, and the challenges of marketing a blog and podcast about, well, everything!
Thank you all for helping me get TGE to 100! Here's to 100 more...
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Today's Art episode is a culture bite about a musical piece so radical, so erotic, so goddam crazy, it's premiere provoked a riot! Igor Stravinsky's "Le Sacre du printemps", The Rite of Spring. In today's culture, would any piece of art provoke a similar reaction? Might Lars Von Trier's controversial new movie "The House That Jack Built", which provoked mass walkouts at the Cannes Film Festival, become a future classic?
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Kendrick Lamar's recent debacle, when a white girl he had invited onstage sung the 'N word' has highlighted a worrying tribalism surrounding uses of that word. Here are some reflections on what happened, on the 'N word' and the power of language.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIbkUbdpBMs
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Richard Wagner is one of the most influential musicians of the 19th century, and is widely considered a pioneer of modern music.
In this ART episode, I take a look at his revolutionary opera, Tristan und Isolde, and how his use of recurring themes (leitmotifs) and delayed gratification, lead to one of the great musical orgasms of all time. Yes, I’m talking literal orgasms. The opera ends with a lady singing, dying and climaxing, all at the same time. Yuck. But also hey, pretty sounds!
Music:
- ‘Vorspiel’, from Das Rheingold, cond. Georg Solti, Vienna Philharmonic
- ‘Prelude to I Act’, from Tristan und Isolde, cond. Willhelm Furtwrangler, Philarmionia Orchestra
- ‘Begehrt, Herrin, was Ihr wunsch’, from Tristan und Isolde, cond. Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philarmonic
- ‘Liebestod’, from Tristan und Isolde, cond. Karl Böhme, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra
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In his essay "On Liberty" (1859), the philosopher John Stuart Mill formulated a cogent, and some would say definitive, statement on the importance of free speech.
Rather than the interference of the State in private affairs, Mill was concerned with a type of social opprobrium he called "the tyranny of public opinion", and its ability to enforce conformity and stifle individuality. Unpopular opinions need the most protecting, not just because they encounter the most resistance, but because even bad opinions help us refine our own views, so that good ideas may be held not as dead dogmas, but as living truths.
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Marvel has been killing it at the movies, with Avengers: Infinity War now officially the highest-grossing summer blockbuster of all time. But one department they haven’t been doing too well in is female representation. Where are Marvel’s badass superheroines? Luckily, Infinity War’s post-credits scene hinted at the debut of one such hero in the next Avengers movie - Carol Danvers, a.k.a. Captain Marvel, Earth’s Mightiest Hero.
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A few months ago, my mother was diagnoses with an inoperable glioblastoma, one of the deadliest brain tumours known to us. On Mothers' Day, I reflect on the bond between mothers and their children, my decision to give up my goals to become her carer, and the canyon between our expectations for our lives, and what our lives actually are.
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New Orleans is a city that understands pleasure. Pleasure of the ear, pleasure of the loins, pleasure of the gut. In other words, New Orleans is the urban representation of Donuts. But the Big Easy is so much more than visceral pleasure. At its best, New Orleans embodies the highest ideals that America should aspire to.
Music: "Ring Shout (Peace of Mind)", by Wynton Marsalis (with JLCO, Yacub Addy and Odadaa!)
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The music of Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893) is virtually synonymous with the term "bittersweet" - it lives at the intersection of beauty and tragedy. In today's ART episode, I share some anecdotes about Tchaikovsky's tragicomical life, and the contrasts that so effectively made their way into his music.
Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/shalom82/playlist/2347bi0sq4NZkZNAKp4CMW?si=MXHvx92lTWiZUJ0BmYLUtA
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Thinking through the recent controversy that arose when Keziah Daum decided to wear a traditional Chinese dress to her prom. Is this racism? Is it cultural appropriation? Is cultural appropriation even a thing?
The most sensitive issues are precisely the ones where we should avoid relying on our outrage to make our minds up. We must instead apply rigour in our thinking, so that we make a positive, thoughtful contribution instead of just adding to the pointless noise. As ever, the moral of the story is "don't be an asshole".
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May the Fourth Be With You, nerds! It's Star Wars day, so in this Donuts episode, I take a little tour through all three seasons of this baffling series, trying and failing to understand what all the fuss is about. What's going on? Wasn't there supposed to be a pointy-eared fellow called Spock here? I like that Jar-Jar Binks guy though.
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Duke Ellington was a legendary composer who contributed more standards to the jazz repertoire than any other musician before or since. He is also singularly responsible for bridging the divide between jazz as popular dance music and jazz as art, giving the genre the respectability it still holds as "America's classical music". I briefly discuss the style, elegance and leadership skills that make Duke Ellington the Greatest American composer.
Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/shalom82/playlist/0hCuJ3sJMmbobB3du7xTBq?si=uLk_vu3WSHCZ_o4jI_ETgg
Music:
James P. Johnson - "Carolina Shout"
Duke Ellington - "Black Beauty"
Duke Ellington and his Kentucky Club Orchestra - "East St. Louis Toodle-oo"
Duke Ellington and his Famous Orchestra - "Caravan"
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A recipe for good living that isn't total bullshit - every day, a little ADT: Art, Donuts, and Transformation.
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It's the birthday of British philosopher, biologist, sociologist and all-round thinky person Herbert Spencer (1820 – 1903), who took Darwin's theories and applied them across almost *every* other discipline, formulating a fascinating worldview based on the notions of evolution and dissolution. Oh, and coining the phrase "survival of the fittest". Here's a few words about the guy.
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Our current education system is based on a conception of the job market that was developed during the industrial age. Schools are set up to instil skills, knowledge and attitudes that best position us to fit in within that system. But innovations in technology and culture mean that the world new graduates step into may be very different from the one they have been trained to perform in. Should we rethink our whole approach to education? I discuss this with philosopher Maarten van Doorn, whose recent article on Medium inspired this episode.
Links:
Medium article: https://medium.com/the-polymath-project/studying-history-is-more-important-than-ever-in-todays-economy-c99fde4be7d0
Maarten van Doorn: https://medium.com/@maartenvandoorn/latest
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Happy birthday Roma! It's the anniversary of the founding in 753 B.C. of Rome, perhaps the single city that has most influenced way we live and think about the world today in the West.
TGE celebrates the occasion by exploring various perspectives on Rome, its history, national character and most famous dish - Carbonara! Today I am joined by Brian Marshall and Timothy Brady, two experts in Roman history to discuss aspects of Roman culture that have worked their way into our own way of life.
Links:
Tom Holland, "Rubicon" - https://www.amazon.com/Rubicon-Tom-Holland/dp/1400078970
Where The Gods Live - https://www.facebook.com/WheretheGodsLiveCrafts/
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Leonardo Da Vinci (1452 - 1519) was a scientist and inventor whose extraordinary ideas and breadth of imagination were centuries ahead of their time. In his spare time, he did some pretty good paintings too.
The quintessential Renaissance Man, Leonardo's approach to life and learning is only extraordinary for the heights he reached. But his tendency to branch out and apply himself to new disciplines was profoundly human. In our age of ultra-specialisation, there's a lot we can learn from Leonardo, to unleash the polymath within us.
Polymath Lifestyle: http://www.thegreateverything.com/polymath-lifestyle-living-wide/
Simone Luccichenti: https://www.instagram.com/simone_luccichenti/
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In this diary edition of TGE, I discuss the importance of Holocaust Remembrance Day, and a couple of Aeon articles on how the notion of trust plays into our post-truth landscape.
Also, please be a legend and leave a review on iTunes! It really helps.
TGE #51 - Holocaust Remembrance Day: https://anchor.fm/tge/episodes/051---Holocaust-Remembrace-Day-e121tj
TGE #59 - Fake News, Descartes and the Power of Narrative: https://anchor.fm/tge/episodes/059---Fake-News--Descartes-and-the-Power-of-Narrative-e1a51c
Aeon Articles:
Diana Popescu - https://aeon.co/ideas/what-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about-post-truth
C Thi Nguyen - https://aeon.co/essays/why-its-as-hard-to-escape-an-echo-chamber-as-it-is-to-flee-a-cult
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Our age is frequently referred to as "the fake news era" or "post-truth". However we want to call it, we all sense this uncertainty as to which sources of knowledge to trust and what truth even means. The philosopher René Descartes lived during a similar time of doubt and fragmentation of traditional narratives. What was his approach to finding certainty in an age of uncertainty? Find out how to update your mental toolkit to deal with the fake news era, in this epic (and rambling) journey through 1,000 years of history, weird metaphors, racist dogs and casual Batman references! Hello.
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It's the anniversary of the birth in 1483 of one of the greatest painters of all time - Raffaello Sanzio, "the Prince of the Arts". Here's my brief reflections on his extraordinary genius and his place within the context of the other Renaissance greats.
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A call from Michael Conway on free speech "triggers" me into a reflection on what our attitudes should be towards those who believe that others' right not to be offended should take precedence over our right to freely express. Also, it's the birthday of two pop culture Greats - director Quentin Tarantino, and Duke Ellington's legendary saxophonist Ben "The Brute" Webster.
For this episode I edited music I don't own - some for purposes of parody (Safed Musli by MF Doom), some for education (the Ben Webster stuff) and I hate to say it, some just because (Rumble, by Link Wray). I have no money, please don't sue me :(
Ben Webster at work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH1Fru-RttA
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This week in the inexorable decline of free speech, a Scottish court of law sentenced comedian "Count Dankula" over a joke involving a pug called Buddha doing a Nazi salute.
The video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro2aKSUIezY
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Today in 1919, Benito Mussolini founded the Fascist Movement. In this diary rambling, I unpack the meaning and history of Fascism, partly to clear up the appalling misuse of the term "fascist" in today's political discourse, and partly because it's just bloody interesting!
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Is our life constant change? The great Roman poet Ovid, author of the Metamorphoses, seems to think so.
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Thinking aloud about the firing of Rex Tillerson, Putin's rising influence in Western affairs, and what might be my mother's last birthday.
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It's the anniversary of the birth of the philosopher George Berkeley (1685 – 1753), whose central thesis is that there is no such thing as matter and that all we interact with are 'ideas' in the mind of perceivers. This notion is best expressed in his famous maxim "esse est percepi" ("to be is to be perceived").
The conversation was made possible by the Anchor voicemail function - if you want to be a part of the show, call in to anchor.fm/tge using the Anchor app.
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Our lives are made up of decisions, both small, and at times life-altering. In all of these situations, we should be striving to “do the right thing”. In this episode, I share some big decisions I’ve had to make since I found out my mother has brain cancer, and how I managed to work my way through each of these to (hopefully) do the right thing.

What defines Greatness? It's a day of existential questions, including a request for The Great Everything's origin story, courtesy of the illest medical MCs around - Dee and Reesh of Medicine Remixed!
https://anchor.fm/medicineremixed

How do we change people's minds? What's so wrong about being wrong? In this episode I discuss the psychological "backfire effect" that stops us from changing our minds when presented with facts contradicting our cherished beliefs. But fret not! I have a plan. Also, a story about my chat with a KKK sympathiser.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mind-tapas/201006/stop-being-such-jerk
• The man who convinces Klansmen to defect http://goo.gl/LkxRJl

A pastiche of various segments on the philosophy of language, produced on Anchor in the early days of TGE: Problems in communication • Does language shape our reality? • In the cage (interlude) • More language. Ahem. • Dammit Patrick! • No word for blue? • Words affect perception • No language no religion • Marc @ TGE on language • Response to Marc - multilingualism and Wittgenstein takeaways | Make your own podcast: https://anchor.fm/tge

For International Women's Day, I had a chat with science writer and podcaster Abby Norman, author of 'Ask Me About My Uterus' (released 6 March 2018) and host of the delightful audio-Wikihole 'Let Me Google That'. We discussed women's health, living with endometriosis and Abby's struggle with the medical professions to get recognition for a condition which affects far more women than we think. We also discussed feminism and the invisible structures that can determine a woman's place in society. Finally, the conversation turned to Abby's podcast and the boundless curiosity that drives it, and Abby's life generally. We found that to Abby, the meaning of life is best encapsulated in Mary Oliver's quote "Pay Attention. Be Astonished. Tell About It."
Links:
Let Me Google That: https://anchor.fm/letmegooglethat
Ask Me About My Uterus: https://www.abbynormanwriter.com/book/

In the wake of the school shooting at Parkland, Florida, we discuss gun violence, gun control and the polarising manner in which these conversations take place. A discussion with 'Big Pat', a Sanders supporting progressive activist and gun rights advocate sheds light on an uncomfortable truth - that those on the other side of this debate might not all be the caricatures we think.

Hey, this is probably a very bad thing to say, but I did not like the new Marvel movie Black Panther. Also, cultural stuff including Ezra Pound, some other stuff, but mainly, just me hating on Black Panther. But hey, glad you guys all loved it!

In the wake of the Machester Arena bombing, here's a collation of various segments and audience call-ins on a crucial topic of our age: terrorism. What makes somebody decide to commit such an act? What impulses can compel us to murder innocent kids? Is this all about Islam? Or are these instances mere manifestations of broader trends of violence and nihilism in our society?

In this episode we explore the question of art, its definition and boundaries. Must it involve the concept of beauty? Must it be visual? And should we be able to pee on it? No, seriously - can we? Please?

In this episode, social media has connected the world, bringing us an unparalleled speed of communication and exposure to new people, places and ideas. But what is the cost of this unprecedented access? Social anthropology suggests that we may not be cognitively structured to build social relationships with the number of people we routinely interact with, and studies conducted by Harvard Professor Cass Sunstein indicate that worrying groupthink mechanisms emerge when like-minded people interact. Finally, Tristan Harris, “Silicon Valley’s conscience”, tells us that tech companies are deliberately designed to take advantage of our basic human flaws. Could something intended to bring us together, actually be tearing us apart?

What moral values can help us survive and build a better society for future generations? Overpopulation, climate change, A.I, egomaniacs with their fingers on red buttons... in a global world, the threats we face are no longer to on group of humans or another, but to our entire species. Which ethical principles can bind us together and better equip us to survive this crucial checkpoint in human evolution?

The online backlash against Matt Damon’s seemingly uncontroversial remarks on the sexual harassment scandal reveal the emergence of an Orwellian “goodthink” vs “crimethink” approach to social issues, where any attempt at nuance is seen as a threat to orthodoxy, that must be shamed or silenced.

Life is full of suffering. Even the most comfortable lives will feature some pain and anxiety. And in general, the intensity of suffering seems to be more acute than any pleasure or enjoyment. So would we have been better off never being born? This is the uncomfortable question asked by anti-natalist philosophers, who believe that it is immoral to bring new beings into the world. In this episode, we explore anti-natalism, it’s suicidal counterpart pro-mortalism and the general question of whether life is worth living.

Hey, have you heard about the #MeToo movement? Yeah, Me Too. So let's talk a little about Celebrity Sex Monsters! Is there a spectrum of sexual misconduct? And is this moment a Great Awakening or a Moral Panic?

We see the world as atomised, composed of objects, things, with clear extensions, shapes and boundaries. But as Zeno showed us, this intuition leads us to all sorts of paradoxes which defy our common intuitions about the world. Is it perhaps more helpful to think of the world as instead being composed of processes, with no boundaries but only continua in a flux of constant change? And if so, what can that tell us about the human condition? Could Becoming be the whole point of Being? Feat. “Cherub Rock” by the Smashing Pumpkins, “Where” by Ennio Morricone and call-ins by multitudes.

In our post-facts world, it’s become increasingly urgent to distinguish between belief and knowledge. On philosopher Robert Nozick’s birthday we ask the question: what is knowledge? How do we define it? Music by Anderson Paak

A classic existentialist theme is that we are paralyzed by te enormity of our freedom of action, so we avoid the angst of choosing by narrowing our options to the point of self-entrapment: “I don’t change because I’m stuck”. In this episode we discuss ways to evade the paralysis of choice, and the opportunities that become possible when we make authentic life decisions. Intro tune- Sumac Berries by MF Doom.

Why do we consider highbrow pursuits (or “Art”) to be inherently superior to baser, more visceral lowbrow pleasures (or “Donuts”)? Is there a way to maximize the sources of pleasure available to us so as to be able to deeply engage with and enjoy Art and Donuts equally? (Spoiler - the answer is “yes”)

Would you lie to to save Anne Frank? Are lies just lies? And is there a difference between lies and fiction? That's just some of the things I discuss in this episode. Actually no, that's everything I discuss in this episode.

In today's episode, it's the birthday of legendary composer Gustav Mahler! Listen to some music that will rattle your heart, soul and bones. Also, a few words on Trump's speech in Poland on defending our civilisation.

Postmodernism. Great idea. Terrible implications. Let's talk about it! For further (and more cogent) argumentation on the topic, check out Dr. Jordan B. Peterson's thoughts, as set out in various Youtube videos and the Joe Rogan podcast.

Some people say he's the Greatest philosopher who ever lived. Everyone else hasn't even heard his name. Today I explore Kant's ideas and two Great questions: how do we experience? And what does a world without time and space look like?

Is anything inherently wrong? How do we judge the morality of past ages? How do we evaluate moral choices? This and more (including stuff about old Civil War statues) are discussed with astonishing insight and warmth, courtesy of me.

Everyone needs to read Yuval Harari's classic book "Sapiens". Here, I talk about the author's theories regarging Artificial Intelligence, the rise of a "useless class", and ask (and answer) the question - are we really better off than our ancestors?

Nuclear proliferation means we have the ability to annihilate the entirety of our, and every other species in the blink of an eye. The podcaster Dan Carlin compared this situation to our kneeling "with a gun at our heads". What are the issues and ethics surrounding atomic warfare? And what would it be like to be in an atomic explosion?

The children's books Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) and Sophie's World serve as an excellent introduction to some of the great philosophical questions of all time. More importantly, they are a perfect illustration of how looking at the world with a sense of childhood wonder is the key to awakening the philosopher in each of us.
http://www.thegreateverything.com/the-little-prince-meaning-think-like-child/

Back from when this podcast used to be called "Pop Philosophy", a series of ponderings on A.I. Should we fear A.I.? What is "General Intelligence" Could you be more useful as a paper clip?
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